Drop-bottom stock car



March 30 1926. I 1,578,840

, A. c MATHER DROP BOTTOM STOCK CAR Filed Sept. 19, 1923 2 shets-sl'leeh1 March so, 1926.

A. c. MATHER DROP BOTTOM STOCK CAR Filed Sept. 19, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2JRVGIZZOI v Patented Mar. 30, 1926.

UNITED. STATES PATENT -ov1= c1z..

nLoNz'o-o. MATHER, or emailed ILLiNoIs;

. DROP-BOTTOM STOCK CAR. f

Application filed September 19, 1923. Seria1'No. 663,6 32.

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, ALo'Nzo MA'rHER, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Chicago, eounty of Cook, andv State of to doors in stockwhich open downward; third, to, be able to open and "close the .doorsfrom one end of the car; fourth, to so construct the operating leversfor the doors that they serve to stiffen the operating shaft; fifth,

to make strong, durable and quick operating doors and other features tobecome apparent fromthe description to follow.

Since the efliciency of railroad cars is expedited by having the cars.loaded in their travels across the country in, botlrdir ed tions,Iprefer to make my improved drop bottom doors inconnection with stockcars,

. but they m'ay-be used on any other kind of car, To describe myinvention so-that othersversed in the art to which it per- 'tains canmake and usethexsame,-I have illustrated it on the accompanying twopartof this.

sheets of drawing forming a specification and in which Figurel, is abottom plan view of .a car provided with my invention;'Fig. 2, is

across sectional'view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, is asectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, partly broken away;

Fig. 4c, is a central longitudinal sectional view through one of theoperatlng shafts partly broken away; Fig. 5, is a cross sectional Viewtaken on line, 5-5jof Fig. 4c, and Fig. 6, is a cross sectional viewtaken on line 66 of Fig. 4-

Similar reference characters refer to si1nilar parts throughout theseveral views.

The center sills of the car are shown at 7 the side sills at '8, thebolster at 9, the end of the car at 10 and the intermediate braces at11, which parts are of the usual construction in cars. The floor 12, seeFig.

2, above the center sills 7 and also above the bolster 9 and braces 11necessarily has to be fixed but the balance of the fiooroof the carcomprising sixteen rectangular shaped sections is made 1n the form ofwhen closed form "the floor or" hinged doors 13 connected to the centersills by the hinges 14: and arrangedv to swing down to an angle of about40 degrees.

-The mechanism, designed for "rigidly holding the sixteendoors' in aclosed .position level with the floor ofthe car and sufficiently strongto support dead weight or live weight as cattle, comprises a shaft 15preferably squareineross section extending the entire length of thecarunder each row of. eight doors 13 on each side of the car, said shafthaving its bearings in suitable boxes 16 supported beneath the car onhangers secured to the bolsters 9, the end sills 10 and the braces 11.Mounted on the shaft to turnwith the same underneath each door 13 aretwolifting arms 17 provided with anti-friction grooved rollers 18 ontheir free ends to engage suitable tracks 19 secured tothe doors 1 3.The arms 17 are so positioned and are of such length with respect to theposition of shaft 15 that the doors 13' will be in a horizontal positionwhen the arms 17 are in their upper or vertical position, and the doors18 will be'in f their lowermostposition as shown by. dotted lines in 2',when the arms 171L113 in their lowered posit on. Obv ously the arms' 17on; one s de of the car are operated in unison by theircooperating'shaft 15.

f Themechanism provided for turning or operating theshaft 15 comprises alarge gear wheel'2Q mounted on one end of the shaft 15 to turn therewithwhich "meshes with a pinion 21 rigidly mounted o njag the end sill 10and is provided on its exposed end with the operating crank 23,

and the ratchet wheel 24: which is engaged by the pawl 25 pivotallymounted on the end'of the car. The pawl and ratchet are so arrangedthatthe shaft 15 will be locked against rotation when the doors are closedand'to drop the doors the pawl 25 must be lifted out of engagement withthe ratchet wheel 24. To make a strong and rigid construction I preferto have the rollers 18 on the free ends of the arms 17 pass the deadcenter above the shaft 15 when the doors 13 are closed and to preventthe same from moving'too far beyond the dead center I shaft wh'icl1"hasits bearing 22 secured to provide the stops 26 on the tracks 19. The Ytracks 19 areextended out beyond the steps 26 to serve as lower bracesfor the door 13.

flhe square shaft 15 is provided with bear ng sleeves27within the boxes16.-

Vhile the shaft may he made sufli cientllv heavy to prevent its twistingwhen lifting the doors to a closed position, 1 prefer to form integralinterlocking tapered lugs 29 on the meeting ends of the sleeves on saidshafts. as well as on the hubs of the gear wheels 20, and applying ascrew nut 28 on each end of the shaft 15 to draw the parts mounted onthe shaft tightly to- .gether and forming a rigid cast sleeve on theexterior of the shaft. In such ease of course the shaft mayiberoundinstead of square in cross-section It will be understood that the arms17 are provided? with sleeves 30 at their pivotal ends; i

In operation to lower the doors the pawl 25 is lifted out of engagementwith the ratchet wheel 24 and the crank 23 is turned States is 1-. In adevice of the class described,-floor I doors hinged to the car frame, acompound shaft arranged below thefree ends of the doors comprising aplurality of sleeves locked together to turn in unison and a center rod,arms mounted on said. shaft to turn therewith and to' have theirfree/ends engage the lower sides of the doors and means for rotatingsaidshaft to raise and lower thedoors.

2;. In a device of the class described; floor'd'oors; a built-up shaftcomprising, a sleeve forming the h-ubof a gear, a sleeve forming, thefulcrum of an arm: arranged to have its free end engage one of saiddoors and a' rod to hold the sleeves in alignment.

3. In a device of the class described, floor doors, a built-up shaft,arms to operateaoly connect the shaft and the doors, bearingboxes forthe shaft and a gear to rotate said shaft, said shaft comprising a hubof the gear and sleeves forming the pivotal ends of said arms and acenter rod to hold the partsinalignment; i I

at, In a device of the class describe'd, floor doors, a built-up shaft,arms to operateably connect the shaft and the doors, bearing boxes forthe shaft and a gear to rotate said shaft, said shaft comprising sleevesforming the pivotal ends of said arms and a center rod provided with endnuts to clamp the shaft end-wise.

51 In device of the cl assdescribed, floor doors hinged at the centerofthe car, a compound shaft arranged below the free ends of the doorscomprising. a plurality of sleeves having inter-locking lugs on theirmeeting ends and acenter rod provided with nuts at each end to clamp thesleeves together,arms mounted on said shaft to turn therewith and tohave their free ends engage the lower side of the doors andmeans for re-'tating said shaft to raise and lower the doors. s 1 I 6. In a device ofthe class described, floor doors; a built-up shaft arms to" operablyconnect theshaftand the doors; bearing gboxes for the shaft and, a gearto rotate said shaft; said shaft comprising: bearing sleeveswithin thehence, a hub of the gear,

and sleeves forming the pivotal ends of said arms and a center rodprovided with end nuts to clamp the shaft endwise,,said gear hub andvsaid sleeves having interlock 'ing lugsr I In testimony whereof I-havesigned my name of-this specification this 7th day of September, 1928,.at Chicago, Illinois ,ArioNzoo. MATHER.

